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Wildfiregames presents: 0AD's unit upgrade. -Why do you work on this upgrade when you should be working on pathfinder and performance improvements? -Please note that this upgrade has been done by an artist who hasn't any knowledge in programming. This upgrade has not taken away any precious work time to 0AD programming developers who continue to work on the needed pathfinder and performance improvements. -Why do you make this upgrade? For a number or reasons: Unit models are very old, around 6-7 years old. These new models are closer to today's industry standards. UV mapping and model proportions aren't ideal on the current models. The new ones have realistic human proportions and much better UV mapping. Old animations cannot be modified, only created from scratch. With the new models we can maintain the blender source files of the animations and modify them at will. Since we share the blender source files, the team and the community can make variations for their own model variations and still use the new armature. Old model's armature (skeleton) is very basic and limited. With the new model's armature we can achieve more detailed animations and are capable of basic prop animation -Are these new models already implemented? Do they work with the old animations? -No. The models are finished and ready to start animation production. We will remake all the unit animations and implement them when there are almost all of the required animations completed. However, the models are commited to the SVN version of the game with some test examples that you can check in the map editor. These examples and the models will be released in the next Alpha release (Alpha18) if you don't wan't to set up a SVN version. To check some unit examples in SVN, go to the map editor and in the object tab, search for all actors and filter by "newunit". Once selected click on "Switch to action viewer" to isolate the unit and zoom in. (please note these are just examples and they aren't final unit setups) -Do you have increased the number of unit variations of the game? -Yes, now there are non-armored unit variations, and armored unit variations with some differences. There are plans to add some more in the near future if time permits. -Can I make my own animations for my mod and use these new models? -Yes you can! Check at the bottom of this post to download the blender source file(s) of the armature and check the SVN newunit xmls example for setting up your own units. Don't forget to check the presentation video where there's a short explanation of how the armature works. -What is left to be done before I can play with these new models? -Since the unit heads have different size than the old ones, all the helmets in the game must be resized to fit them. Also as pointed a few lines above, we're going to upgrade all the animations to fit these new models. When these two tasks are complete or close to completion, we'll implement them and you'll be able to play 0AD with them. -Is there something I can make to help with this task? -Yes! If you are a skilled animator with experience in human models' animations you can open a thread in "Applications and contributions" subforum, tell us about yourself and show us some of your animation works! Male unit variations (Old Work in progress): (Click following images to enlarge) Female unit variations (Old work in progress): Download the blend file and start animating! Enjoy! New unit upgrade animation template.zip

I have to say I am very impressed by the latest release 17. Certainly it is MUCH closer to completion than version 16, as Chinese faction finally has most faction buildings completed/near completion. I am especially impressed with the unit roaster, as it pretty much covers everything Han Dynasty military has to over. I open this thread to voice out my suggestion and opinions on various Chinese units. I am not a gameplay-and-balancing type of guy, but very much into aesthetics and historical accuracy. Also, my knowledge on architecture is limited, so I would not comment on the buildings, at least at the moment. Part 1. Historical Inaccuracy 1) Clothing 2) Armour 2.1) Light Armour for archers (elite) and sword cavalry (advanced) Fixed. No longer found in the mod. 2.2) Medium Armour for Spearman (Advanced) 2.3) Heavy Armour 2.3.1) Proposed texture fix for heavy armour 2.4) Helmets Fixed. No longer found in the mod. Reference 1: Armour for a Han Crossbowman (Advance and Elite) Reference 2a: Han Dynasty Crossbow Quiver Reference 2b Han Dynasty bow and quiver 2.4) Shield on swordsman (or lack thereof). Fixed. All sword unit has shield now. 2.5) Speaking of shield...Partially Fixed. Shield still found on barrack.

Hi, I have not seen a post asking this feature ... so I trying : Is it possible to have the "Restart" function in solo mode, and if possible also on random maps. A "Restart" button in the menu (with resign and exit) would be fine, and / or why not in the summary to better compare the differences. This would avoid having to reconfigure the "Game Setup", but especially with a replay exactly the same card (eg to improve its rush, or to claim revenge on "Petra / hard" in the same conditions). If not possible, it's a shame because I find it indispensable to progress efficiently.

(No, I'm not trying to 're-envision' how techs work in 0ad, don't worry!) A while ago, Pureon showcased some of the icons the art team had been working on (http://www.wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=17025) and along with a selection of icons, he also displayed a Tech/Structure tree concept: I liked the idea (as did the commenters in that topic) and so I decided to attempt to implement it - with a little interpretation. After months of on/off development (mostly off than on) and various revisions, I have got it to a point where I'm happy to share it with the community. Here's a screenshot: A live interactable version can be found here: http://s06eye.co.uk/0ad/techtree-v2 And the code is on github here: https://github.com/s0600204/0ad-techtree-v2 Please note that this is no more finished than 0ad is. There are changes to come, efficiency improvements, appearance tweaks and such. But I thought I'd share my progress and get some (hopefully favourable) feedback. Enjoy! Update! It is now possible to see this in-game. See this post for details! Code Updates: 21st October : Tooltip positioning is better. 22nd October : Stats are now loaded from parent templates properly 23rd October : Tooltips now have the same descriptions used in-game; and for units and structures, attack and armour stats are shown where applicable. 3rd December : Three more community mods available for comparison, rewrite much of the data parsing code. 30th March : Big update to mods' simulation data, and modifications to permit aristeia's phase-pair techs

Hey folks. I'm new here so please be gente I had some ideas for structures to be built ingame by soldiers to make gameplay more strategic and interresting. I'll just sum them up and briefly explain them. Moats: Give soldiers the ability to dig defensive moats around stone and wooden defense/city walls. In wet, grassy soils groundwater would fill up these moats. When dug in more arid soil moats should draw water from ingame bodies of water. These moats could slow down attacking infanterists and completely hinder cavalery and siege weapons from crossing. You could force the enemy to nozzle down their attackforce into a killzone surrounded by outposts and guardtowers, which leads me to the next idea; Drawbridge Gates: Gates can have a large wooden door hinged at the bottomside, so the doors can pivot forward and be lowered to span across a Defensive Moat. Opened it serves as a bridge, closed it hinders attackers by presenting it with both a Moat and a closed gate. Canals: Give soldiers the ability to dig Canals, similair to moats but deeper and wider so ships can cross them. They would take longer to build and cost more resources than moats, but they could also hinder Infantery from crossing and allow you to add a naval fleet to the defence of your cities. Could also allow access to sea for Fishing when your civilisation center is far from water. Would also allow more complex docks to be built. Could allow for nice Star-Fortress islands to be built. Gatehouse: A Gatehouse to become available in later ages would make besieging more challenging. A gatehouse could have a series of 3 gates. You can select a Gatehouse, select the "lock gate" option and all 3 gates would lock at once. It would have 4 defense towers built into it and be bigger than a regulair gate, but a bit smaller than a fortress. Like a mini-fortress and a gate in 1. Example: A nice upgrade to this Gatehouse could be to upgrade it's doors from wood to solid metal, which would off course cost alot of metal. Integrating structures into Stone City Walls: It would be nice if stone Guard Towers could be built into city walls, replacing the short towers common in the current stone walls. It would also be nice if you could incorporate Fortresses into stone walls. Fortresses have a tower on each corner; You could use those as attatchment points from which to allow soldiers to build stone walls. Wooden Poles: Allow soldiers to beat wooden poles into the ground. Perhaps soldiers could "build" them like walls; in rows. It would only cost a little bit of wood. If significant parts of land are covered with poles, this would hinder Cavalery and Siegenweapons passing through that land. Infantery could pass these poles but would be significantly slowed down. This was a method frequently used to hinder Cavalery in old times. Would allow for a cheap way to hinder enemy attacks, when you dont have enough resources to build enough stone walls and defense towers yet. I have plenty more ideas but I'll save those for later.

oh so civic center rushing is still a thing. ):

Yes, but not only. This is, unfortunately, useless noise on the forums. Just create a Trac ticket describing what the patch should do. Attach the .patch file, following these instructions. However, you're only commenting out code. So, even if the code you remove is heavy and problematic, it does do something and removing it must lead to unexpected behaviour... Anyway, just move on to Trac and we'll see about that patch. Thanks in advance.

6) Unit call sign, decoration and bling EDIT: Ahh, finally all done.

1st priority is to win. 2nd too. aso.

Now auron, lets get some things clear sure, you may think that the priorities are to build a civic center next to the enemy and tower up, but this isnt as easy since its next to oponnent so he can mobilise quicker and have more troops at his disposal. Me infact i prefere expand near my own territory since it allows me to have access to more resources and move the border further away from my main base. This would limit the game too so much and scouting everywhere woudnt be necesary. Not forgetting that infact building sotrehouses and farmhouses in neutral territory would render mauryan elephants useless to a certain extent since they are much slower so it would be more effucent just to build a farmhouses and storehouses pretty useless. Your idea would limit so much and render the game completely different.

2) Clothing As a general rule, red color for melee unit and white color for ranged unit. There are some exceptions, but that is the general trend. Beside red and white, there are also black, yellow-orange, teal-green and purple colored cloth. *Please refer to Reference 1 and my other thread about reconstructed Han Dynasty clothing. 3) Thigh Some cavalry (Not all) wear this thing on their thigh. 4) Armour 4.1) Pectoral armour for Advanced Infantry Swordsman Advanced Infantry Spearman Advanced Infantry Crossbowman Advanced Cavalry Swordsman Advanced Cavalry Spearman Advanced Cavalry Crossbowman Osprey's artwork get the colouring wrong. The Chinese paint their armour with black lacquer, so all of their armour regardless of leather or iron, will appear black. Pectoral armour variations: 4.2) Sleeveless Armoured Vest 4.3) Heavy armour for Elite Infantry Swordsman Elite Infantry Spearman Elite Infantry Crossbowman Elite Cavalry Swordsman Elite Cavalry Spearman Elite Cavalry Crossbowman Armour with simple shoulder guard, armour with complete armoured sleeve, and armour with collar guard. 4.3) Pectoral armour for Elite Infantry Bowman Elite Horse Archer Since archer favours mobility over protection, basic and advanced archer fought unarmoured. Only the most elite archer will be moderately armoured.

Supposedly those feathered hat are for more prestigious unit, which means they will likely be mounted. Most of these things are excavated in badly decayed states from ancient tomb, so I can't guarantee the owner of said item WILL own a horse. I do found some pre-Han Dynasty artwork depicting cavalry with similar hat though.

Part. 2 Unit Variation The problem with Han Dynasty army is that most (or all) of its equipment are mass produced and state-provided. This is generally a good thing as it greatly reduce logistics and cost, and the army will look fairly uniform. Nevertheless, for the purpose of 0ad gameplay, it is a bad thing. Every archer and swordsman and spearman will be wearing the same cloth, armour and helmet, which is very dull and hard to tell different unit apart. A (partial) solution is to add unit variation, which I will elaborate base on different part of the body. 1) Head 1.1) Head for basic unit 1.1.1) Unarmoured Head for Basic Infantry Swordsman Basic Infantry Spearman Bun hair, leather hat and bald guy. The bun hair and leather hat are already in the mod. That bald guy is a cóng people (賨人 pronounced 'chong' instead of 'kon'), foreign (barbarian) troops employed by Han army as melee infantry (and cannon fodder). 1.1.2) Unarmoured Head for Basic Infantry Crossbowman Same with melee infantry, but no bald guy. 1.1.3) Unarmoured head for Basic Cavalry Swordsman Basic Cavalry Spearman Basic Cavalry Crossbowman Same as above, but with feathered hat. 1.2) Head for advanced unit 1.2.1) Head for Advanced Infantry Swordsman Advanced Infantry Spearman Advanced Infantry Crossbowman Leather hat, helmet with exposed bun hair, and feathered helmet. 1.2.2) Head for Advanced Cavalry Swordsman Advanced Cavalry Spearman Advanced Cavalry Crossbowman Same as above, but add feathered hat. 1.3) Head for elite unit 1.3.1) Head for Elite Infantry Swordsman Elite Infantry Spearman Elite Cavalry Swordsman Elite Cavalry Spearman Different types of helmet. 1.3.2) Head for Elite Infantry Crossbowman Elite Cavalry Crossbowman Full helmet blocks peripheral vision, which is bad for ranged unit. 1.4) Head for bow unit. Since heavy armour could potentially impede movement, archers tend to be lightly armoured. There are exceptions to this rule (such as heavy armoured samurai and cataphract), but I think Han Chinese generally favours mobility on their bowmen and horse archers. 1.4.1) Head for Basic Infantry Bowman Basic Horse Archer 1.4.2) Head for Advanced Infantry Bowman Elite Infantry Bowman 1.4.3) Head for Advanced Horse Archer Elite Horse Archer Scrapped Update: Horse *Basic horse has no decorations. Also, don't forget the design of saddle cloth too. Advanced Horse Elite Horse Reference 20: Han Dynasty Horse Terracotta

7) Aesthetic This is probably the only part I will touch about building and architecture, because I am not very knowledgeable in it. I might come back after I expanded my knowledge on this area though. 7.1) Dragon banner This kind of artwork is way too modern for Han Dynasty (I am guessing this is a Qing Dynasty artwork). Han Dynasty art tend to be very primitive, tribal-like, and utilitarian. Reference 16: Han Dynasty Dragon Artwork 7.2) Paper Lantern TBH, I am not even sure paper lantern existed back then. Even if it did, it wouldn't look like this. 7.3) Water Well Could refer to the pottery models for a better design. Reference 17: Han Dynasty Pottery Well 7.4) Door AFAIK all doors on Han Dynasty buildings are rectangular. No arched door. Speaking of which, that sign above this door read "大雄宝殿", which is the main hall of Shaolin Temple (which didn't existed yet). That font also haven't been invented. 7.5) Barrack While current model is good, I would like to suggest an alternate layout: Reference 18: Some kind of barrack 7.6) Bixie This design is again too advanced for Han Dynasty. Reference 19: Han Dynasty bixie statue

6) Siege engine We have an entire thread dedicated to Han Dynasty siege warfare already, so I wouldn't need to say much. That being said, those spears from the siege tower need to be fixed. Please refer to section 2). I actually prefer the more primitive Jing Lan over the Lv Gong Che, which was invented just before the fall of Yuan Dynasty. I would like to suggest name change: Siege Crossbow: "shou she nu (手射弩)" to "nǔ chē (弩车)" OR "lián nǔ chē (连弩车)" OR “qiáng nǔ chē (强弩车)”.Siege Tower: "lin chong lv gong che (临冲吕公车)" to "lín chē (临车)" OR "lóng chē (隆车)"Note: A lián nǔ in Han Dynasty context refers not to repeating crossbow but "siege crossbow that shoots rope-attached bolt". Think modern whaling harpoon cannon. 6.1) Other recorded siege weapons (I simply list it here, it is up to the modders to decide which to use, or not using at all. Five different siege weapons is too redundant for one faction anyway.) Battering ram "chong che (冲车)" Armoured Carroballista "Wu Gang Qiang Nu Che (武刚强弩车)" Three Kingdoms Period Stone-thrower "Pi Li Che (霹雳车)" Three Kingdoms Period Siege Tower "Jing Lan (井阑)"

Great idea! Is there already a ticket for that? Just to not lose the idea in the forums

fox.zip

The Red Cliff is very accurate on historical accuracy as far as Chinese movie goes. There are some inaccuracy and anachronism (They use Western Han period clothing while the timeline is set in late Eastern Han/Three Kingdoms, but that is because Eastern Han archaeological finds are way too scarce to reconstruct anything concrete). We can disregard the fancy costume/armour on named characters, those giant shields and round shields from the first movie, outdated or anachronistic weapons like ge (戈) ,Guandao and that horse-drawn chain...thing, serious lack of crossbows, and crazy martial art moves. Other than that, it is actually quite good in the costume department.

So in other words, fixing a bug for this experimental version fixed a bug for the usual version of the game? That's a win in my book

5) Naval Unit I am not really knowledgeable in naval history either, but I really wish I could draw some concept of Han warship (if I could draw, that is). 5.1) Rudder Could use a rudder here Also, second 'floor' on this ship seems closer to first floor than third floor, for some reason. Reference 11: Chinese Rudder 5.2) Chinese Sail Chinese sail should be segmented on both side. (This is just very minor nitpicking) EDIT: I might be wrong on this one. Need more reference to be sure. EDIT 2: I was wrong. Current sail design is correct. Reference 12: Korean ships and sail Reference 13: Modern junk ship and sail 5.3) Han Dynasty Warship Timeline (I think I already mentioned this somewhere else, but can't recall where): Western Han: Tower ship (楼船) and Ge Chuan (戈船) Eastern Han: Tower ship, Mao Tu (冒突) and Lu Nao (露挠) Three Kingdoms: Tower ship, Dou Jian (斗舰) and Meng Chong (艨冲). Also Zou Ge (走舸) and fire ship. The Ge Chuan (戈船) is basically a medium warship/troop transport. The only defining feature of this ship is lots of spears and halberds (probably arranged uptight) on the deck.Mao Tu (冒突) and Lu Nao (露挠) can be interpreted as another name for Meng Chong/Covered Swooper (艨冲). Mao Tu (冒突) is described as an assault ship, while Lu Nao (露挠) is described as completely covered, with only oars visible from the outside.Zou Ge (走舸) is a smallish boat, probably around the size of a sampan.Depending on time period, I think we *might* need to pick which warship (name) to use carefully. Reference 14: Turnbull's interpretation of Three Kingdoms period warships 5.4) Fishing boat (suggestion only) I know there are some modern Chinese fisherman still fish like this, but I want at least a sampan Wooden box could be replaced with a (round) bamboo basket. Also, the fisherman should wear no boots/shoes. 5.5) Merchant boat No sail and flag. Sailor (should be generally )standing on the back of the ship to man the rudder-oar . Again, shouldn't wear shoes. Reference 15 Han brick artworks and pottery boats.

4) Heroes and Champion 4.1) Liu Bang I really like Liu Bang's design. Liu Bang had a legend that associate him with sword (he killed a snake to mark the start of rebellion against Qin Dynasty. Maybe he REALLY hated snake ). The bronze sword complement him nicely, as Liu Bang predates Han Dynasty itself. Liu Bang often boasted he "won the Tianxia on horseback", so a horse is fitting. For clothing, as a Emperor Liu Bang would had been wearing an imperial gown called jun xuan (袀玄), which is a black gown. Current clothing is only knee-length, too short to be considered a proper gown. For some reason Liu Bang is trained from the farmstead, but I believe this is just temporary. Proposed Hero Ability: Economic aura: Liu Bang is not really a military guy but a good politician. His presence increase resource collecting speed (and/or yield). Healing boost aura: Friendly Confucian scholar heals better. Bribe: Active ability, paying certain amount of resource to force surrounding enemy unit to stop attacking for a while (and forcing retreat - if that sort of thing is possible to code). Enemy unit under the effect of bribing will be treated as neutral by your faction and your allies. To prevent abuse, this ability can only be used in friendly territory. Reference 8: Western Han Jun Xuan design Reference 9: Statue of a really angry Liu Bang chopping down a snake. 4.2) Han Xin Current model is way too generic for a celebrated legend like Han Xin. Han Xin had the reputation of always carry a sword around to the point of being humiliated (because he never actually use it), I suggest an eye candy sheathed sword for the 3D model . He worked as a guard / halberd bearer for Xiang Yu for a while before defecting to Liu Bang. There's also a mythical legend about him using a spear to stab the ground to find fresh water. Personally I would imagine this hero as a heavily armoured cavalry lancer, as he is famous for his lightning fast strike, raid and ambush, deceptions, and generally high mobility warfare. As Han Xin also predates Han Dynasty, he could use earlier Qin Dynasty equipment as well. Proposed Hero Ability: Stealth aura: Passive aura that hides surrounding friendly unit from enemy mini-map. Death wish aura: Surrounding friendly unit gradually increase their damage and attacking speed the more damage they take. (i.e. 100% increase in DPS at 50% health, 200% increase at 10% health, etc. Subject to balancing). Does not affect Han Xin himself and siege engine / ship / tower / garrisons. *If building capturing is implemented into the game, he would get a 'capturing aura' as well. Reference 10: Some character (wearing sensible armour) from the movie Red Cliff A heroic cloak would be mighty fine . 4.3) Yet to be implemented Third Hero Current design document indicates that third hero would be Wei Qing. Wei Qing is a cavalry hero, but most famous for his wagon fort tactic. He certainly did not use repeating crossbow though, that would be Li Ling. Proposed Hero Ability (for Wei Qing): Wu Gang Che: Active ability that train a bunch of slow moving, garrisonable cart. In term of gameplay, I imagine Liu Bang as Defensive/Economic/Booming hero, Han Xin as Offensive/Ambush/Decisive Strike hero, while Wei Qing as Steady Push/Siege/Staying Power hero. 4.4) Champion Unit Since there is none yet, may I suggest: Cavalry Lancer (Yu Lin Guard)Horse Archer (Bow) (Hu Ben Guard)Two-handed Swordsman InfantryHybrid Melee-Crossbow Infantry - May be hard to implement, judging from the discussion about dual-role unit like Theurophoroi.*There's a WIP elite Han archer model already, I hope modify it to become a cavalry unit won't be too complicated...

3) Weapon 3.1) Anachronistic Halberd Fixed. Anachronistic halberd is longer used in this mod. 3.2) Halberd again Partially fixed. Still found on siege tower. 3.3) Halberd again Still found on siege tower. Reference 4: Han Dynasty Ji halberd Reference 5: Correct way of handling a halberd 3.3) Tassel on spear Fixed. 3.4) Spear Current spearhead is rhomboid-shaped. Could use a better one, but this is (and should be) REALLY low priority because every unit in the game features the same spearhead. Reference 6: Some Han Dynasty spearheads 3.5) Jian, Double-edged Sword Fixed. Jians are no longer used by swordsman and cavalry swordsman units. Double-edged swords or Jian should be reserved for officer and Hero unit only. Bronze weapon was being phased out as well, especially bronze Jian. In short, all long iron Jian should be removed. Shorter bronze Jian is still ok in extremely limited numbers (even that is stretching). 3.6) Dao, single-edged sword. Partially fixed, Daos still quite long. You can easily tell by the grip that these swords are designed for two handed use. Could use a shorter version. Two handed swords (both Daos and Jians) could be used by specialist troop a.l.a. Britons. All swords are too broad, the blade of a Han Dynasty sword is generally not broader than its grip. (Think ninja sword without tsuba but with a ring pommel, and you basically get a Han Dao) Both iron and bronze Daos were used (less bronze obviously). Reference 7: Different Han Dynasty Weapons